Number of bedrooms 3 Reasonable sized rooms, very spacious.
Own / shared bedroom Own
House safety Their house is safe. They have taken such precautions as fire and plug guards and also a stair gate. The dog is often put into a separate room when seeming to be overly boisterous.
Family structure
Mum, Dad, Jenny & Dog
Both parents have the same, demanding career and have arranged their shifts to link in with each other, to provide care for Jenny, although Grandparents and friends living near by often lend a hand at crucial points.
No of siblings 0
Garden (enclosed / safe)
The garden is enclosed, but as the moment is not as safe as it could be. This problem is being dealt with as reconstruction is taking place including new fences putting in place and a special surface to make it safer for Jenny to play.
Local environment
How near to… (approx)
Busy roads 100m – The roads surrounding the house are sometimes busy but there is a stretch of road opposite, which is closer but quieter.
Shops 400 m – short walking distance
Park / play area 1/4 mile
Playschool / school 330 m – On same estate
Leisure centre 1 mile
Physical development
What can the child do NOW?
Fine motor skills
Head and eyes move eagerly together
Eyes move together
When a toy is dropped, looks for it vaguely
Very attentive to people and happenings around them
Pokes at small object and points with index finger
Picks up small objects between finger and thumb with pincer grasp
Cannot place toy down, can only drop it
Looks in correct direction for fallen or falling toys
Jenny can also recognise familiar people from a distance and will bang two toys together to make noise.
This shows that Jenny is working above her target age, according to “birth to 5 years, Mary Sheridan” she is within the 1-year age group.
Gross motor skills
She can support herself on the floor for a prolonged length of time and can lean forward to retrieve a toy, without falling over. Jenny can sit up from a lying down position. Can crawl on hands and knees, which is more advanced than the bottom shuffling, of which she also can do. And she has realised about object permanence and now can walk ‘around’ furniture. As opposed to often bumping ‘into’ it.
The later skills that I have mentioned again are taken from skills of a 1 year old as shown in “birth to 5 years, Mary Sheridan”
Intellectual development
What stage is the child at now? (Hearing, speech)
Jenny is progressing at a healthy rate for an 11 month old, I have looked at skills stemming back to a 6 month old all the way up to a year old, she can relate to most but not of all. Such as, she will shout or babble loudly to attract attention and will imitate vocal sounds such as coughing etc. Cannot yet understand ‘No’ and ‘Goodbye’ which according to “Birth to 5 years, Mary Sheridan” means that she is slightly behind as that is one of the skills of a 9 month old.
This does not worry her mother or her health visitor as she is well ahead in other areas and starting to achieve skills which are known for a 1 year old. For example she may hand objects to parents on request and understands the use of household/everyday items e.g. spoon. Jenny knows her own name but will not always respond immediately.
Emotional development (including play)
Again Jenny seems to be progressing well within this area of P.I.E.S yet also achieving more advanced skills within the age of a 1 year old. Whilst I was there Jenny was very cheerful, yet showing a wide range of emotions both positive and negative. At the time of my visit it was in-between her nap and feed. She demonstrates affection to familiar people and also will share toys and books with adults and other children.
Social development
How social is she??
It says in “Birth to 5 years, Mary Sheridan” that a child becomes more reserved at 7 months but Jenny’s mum has said that she did not notice this happen.
Attitude with parents / relatives
She is very affectionate with people she recognises
Attitude with me (stranger) at beginning of visit
She seemed shy at first with me, as if sussing me out. I know that she was wondering why I was there.
Reaction when alone with me
I got to feed Jenny, and she didn’t seem to notice that her mother had gone for a good length of time.
Reaction when parents return to child
Although she didn’t realise, she glowed when her mother came back to the room.
Attitude to me towards end of visit
When she realised that I was there to be with her she opened up. She was more relaxed towards the end of visit.
SUMMARY
I very much enjoyed my first visit with Jenny as she warmed to me towards the end and that will make it easier for me to go back there and to carry out my coursework on her.
Jenny seems a very happy and healthy little girl who is extremely playful. She is advanced in all areas of P.I.E.S and often working to the level of an older child. I believe that it helps with her physical development being also above the norm for a child her age.
Her mother did stress that Jenny could be quite tired as she had missed her sleep earlier in the day.
I have taken this into account whilst describing both her character and the way she was emotionally when I was there.
At the beginning I was worried about Jenny thinking I was just there to test her and write notes on her, so I will make sure that I get involved in what she is doing and leave the writing up till later, this I hope will make her more comfortable and help us to get on better.
